


Change of Heart

by bella0712



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Jealousy, Mutual Pining, Pining, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 02:58:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6686434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bella0712/pseuds/bella0712
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years after Tokyo, Raven and Beast Boy have grown close. But how will Beast Boy deal with Raven's new love interest?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first fanfic! Please be kind and be sure to leave feedback! Thank you. :3

A joyful holler pierces through the night sky. The harsh sound interrupts the hushed conversation between Raven and the young man who ventured up to the roof for fresh air. She already knows who it is without turning around. Her teammate. Her friend.

Beast Boy.

After the whole mess with Malchior, the two began spending more time together. Beast Boy recognized the same hurt in Raven that he used to harbor for Terra. He tried to hide his hurt with jokes and laughter, and Raven tried to hide her hurt through meditation and indifference. But Beast Boy could see through her act. He saw the pain buried deep within Raven's eyes. Her eyes gave away everything. Raven, admittedly never truly loved Malchior, however he was the only hope she had for a love interest. Her only opportunity for love. Someone who couldn’t be hurt by her powers. At first, Beast Boy shadowed her everywhere, trying to cheer her up by getting her to participate in any and all activities which only annoyed the piss out of her -- this, he learned quickly. So now, when he isn't in the mood to play video games with Cy, he ventures up to the roof where Raven meditates and either joins her or simply talks about Terra. Sometimes Raven stops meditating to talk about Terra and the team and life, in general, with Beast Boy. Over time, their talks became more frequent and more enjoyable. Raven discovered there was a lot to know about Beast Boy that he never shared. Like his parents, living in Africa, getting taken advantage of a child as he was tossed around from foster home to foster home, his bittersweet stay with the Doom Patrol, and how hard it was to control the beasts and especially the beast within him. Raven relates very well to that. She always has to keep all her emotions in check or else bad things could happen. And she especially has to keep Rage in check. Her version of Beast Boy's beast. The two troubled teens have grown together, Beast Boy helping her live a little and Raven helping him cope and mature.

That's not to say that Beast Boy doesn't continue to get on her nerves...he definitely does. And he pays for those times. This is one of those times. But he’s learning. It has been two years since Tokyo, and the two are now 21 years old. Beast Boy has started clubbing recently. He rationalizes it to Raven as a way to physically vent his emotions. It took a lot of convincing, but Raven finally accepted the fact that his ways of coping with pain, such as playing video games and clubbing, were different than her ways -- meditating and reading. So she decided to be a true friend and "babysit" him whenever he goes out to drink. It’s pretty easy, she just teleports the two of them to a club and teleports them back to ensure Beast Boy isn't drinking and driving/flying. And while he parties, she simply sits on the barren roof, reading or meditating in solitude. It’s a win for both.

A few years ago, Raven never would have imagined growing this close to the teammate most juxtaposed with her...much less, imagined spending her Saturday nights like this. But maybe it had something to do with Beast Boy's tremendously growing maturity. His good nature and humor remained intact, and teasing Raven is still his past time amongst video games and kicking it with the guys. But now he shows his pensive side. He can hold his own in deep conversations with Raven without getting distracted by something shiny. Raven likes to think it has something to do with her influence, but knows Beast Boy wouldn't have turned out this way if he didn't want to. She can't take all the credit. 

Despite this newfound maturity, Raven still feels the need to watch over him sometimes. Especially when she knows he would be drinking. Drinking helps him let off steam, but also brings out his primal, animalistic side. He could get into all kinds of trouble thinking with his animal brain. Can't have one of the (Not-So-Teen) Titans, a drunken mess, on the front of newspapers and tabloids everywhere. Raven shudders at the thought. 

And not-so-teen, he is. In the past two years, Beast Boy started three inches shorter than Raven, and shot up like a weed, now towering a foot taller than her at 6'2", the same height that Robin reached, but still three inches shorter than Cyborg. That wasn't the only way in which Beast Boy grew, though. His body filled out quite nicely -- not bulky, but not string-bean-thin anymore -- just the right amount of lanky. He’s no longer the runt of the group, and his uniform stretches in ways Raven thought were impossible...not that she notices. Neither does she notice how Beast Boy's voice has fallen a few octaves, but still has that trademark rasp.

"Rae!" the green changeling shouts, despite the fact that he’s standing right next to her. He grins down at her, excitedly. "Gonna introduce me to all your friends?" He turns toward the young man, covering his sly smile partially with his left hand, "I didn't know Raven did friends."

Raven raises an eyebrow. 

Beast Boy's face colors. "I mean I didn't know Raven had friends. Not did. C'mon, ya know what I meant," Beast Boy slurs in exasperation. 

"There's only one guy here. How much have you had to drink?" Annoyance colors her voice, but a wrinkle forms between her brows.

Beast Boy sways where he stands. "One, two, three," he counts. "Four, five, six.."

"Don't hurt your brain," Raven rolls her eyes. She holds out a hand that reaches behind Beastboy's back to stable him. "So that's triple. All new record."

Beast Boy giggles.

"It’s not like you're going to remember this,” she sighs. “But this is Xander. He came up here to get out of that sweaty mess downstairs."

The young man is strikingly good looking. Tall, dark, and handsome with a black button down shirt, rolled up to his elbows, exposing a labyrinth of tattoos wrapped around his entire forearms. Even in his drunken state, Beast Boy can’t help but notice how nicely the other man is built. But if Beast Boy concludes that he could take the other man down without using his powers, if need be. Beast Boy can't help but size up other males. Especially in the presence of Raven. He fucking hates how the animals he morphs into affect him even in his human form.

"Wow, the boy, the myth, the legend." Xander smirks, "Never would have guessed you were this tall."

Beast Boy bares his teeth in semblance of a smile. His sharp canines gleam in the moonlight. This guy isn’t rubbing him the right way. Not that he thinks the guy is a threat. He just seems like a fucking douchebag. Beast Boy raises his chin at the backhanded compliment. "Yeah I guess I've grown a bit over the years." 

Raven bristles at the sudden tension she feels rolling in waves off Beast Boy. He isn't usually the type to look for fights, even when drunk, but she feels aggression radiating in Beast Boy, mixed with some other dark emotions, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

She turns to Xander. "I'm sorry that you have to see him like this; he's usually not like this," Raven glares up at Beast Boy who’s glaring at Xander. "But it was nice to meet you, Xander."

She starts walking Beast Boy a few feet away so they can teleport back to Titans Tower using Raven's black nimbus magic. But Xander's hand grabs her wrist, stopping them. Beast Boy’s hostility grows exponentially. He whips around and growls, sending a chill up Raven's spine. She’s never heard such an animalistic sound from Beast Boy in human form. "Don't touch her," he grinds out.

"Hey, it's cool,” Xander barely looks at the menacing shape shifter. He puts a piece of paper in Raven's hand. "Just wanted to give you my number, in case you ever want to meet up again sometime."  
Raven looks down at her hand and gives a very small smile to Xander. She doesn't get much attention from random guys much -- not like Starfire or Jinx. And she also smiles because this guy must be pretty ballsy, considering he’s unfazed by Beast Boy's barbaric display of dominance. 

She teleports them back to the roof of Titans Tower and briskly walks to the door leading them inside. Beast Boy stumbles after her, sending a lamp crashing to the floor.

"Not talking to me now?" he huffs indignantly when the elevator doors shut.

"You embarrassed me,” she drones, flatly. “I don't know why you get like that when anyone shows any interest in me."

"Hah, that's like the tea kettle calling the pot black...or however it goes..." he shakes his head full of drunken thoughts and laughs humorlessly.

Raven quirks an eyebrow, scowling.

"I mean, I can't even dance with a girl without you giving us that death glare which, of course, scares off the girl," he throws up his hands. "And you can fucking forget me dating someone because of you!"

Raven bristles. She hasn’t been careful enough.

The elevator doors open and the green and grey duo walk out.

A light burns out as Raven levitates past it, but her voice remains monotone. "Maybe because the girls who dance with you look like they have herpes amongst other diseases, and I'm just trying to look out for you –“

They stop in front of Beast Boy's door.

"-- And I've never stopped you from dating anyone. Don't blame me because you'd rather grind on girls than have a stable relationship."

Beast Boy lets out a short, derisive bark of a laugh. "Wow, that’s rich. And FYI, you don't need to keep looking out for me. I'm not a baby, and you're not my fucking mother," he spat.

Every bulb in their hallway sizzles. 

They continue glaring at each other, faces nearly touching, a second longer before Beast Boy retreats to his room. Raven flies to her room, trying to calm her emotions. She feels Rage seething and screaming furiously in her head. She lays down on her bed, rubbing at her temples. 

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she breathes.

No one gets under her skin like Beast Boy.


	2. Chapter 2

_Brrrrrrrrring, brrrrrrrrring, brrrrrrrrring_. Beast Boy awakes at the asscrack of noon with the worst headache of all time. He blindly slaps his nightstand several times, trying to turn the infernal contraption off. His skin feels two sizes too tight for him, and his head pulses violently.

He finally opens his eyes blearily and fully wakes, after several minutes. He’s dying of thirst. Thank goodness after nights like these, Raven wakes up early and gets him --

His nightstand is bare, save for a graphic novel. No glass of water from Raven.

Oh, right...

Memories from last night rush back to him. Tequila. Whoa, way too much tequila. And dancing with some faceless girls. And more shots. And dancing. And...Raven. With some douche named Xander. Like who the hell does that guy think he is? Some guy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer? His heart plummets remembering how she smiled when That Douche gave her his number...and how upset she got with him. He just can't help it sometimes when he drinks...drinking helps him relax, but also makes it harder to control those urges inside him. Especially for her.

He grimaces at the thought of yelling at her last night. He fucked up. Royally. They annoy each other, but he hasn't yelled at her in years. And he came dangerously close to acknowledging the big, pink elephant in the room...Feelings. He’s seen the way her purple orbs linger on him more often than not, following him everywhere. There must be some part of her that fancies him even if it’s because he’s grown on her like an unwanted parasite. Either that, or Beast Boy is completely delusional. But he has learned that to maintain Raven's friendship he can’t acknowledge that elephant. With Raven’s emotions it’s dangerous for her to get involved with anyone, especially someone on her team, someone she lives with.

Beast Boy groans as he stands up on wobbly feet. His muscles scream under the weight of him. He makes his way to the bathroom he and Raven share. He kneels before the toilet waiting for the inevitable. The liquids are as bitter as they were going down last night, only this time the taste of regret mingles with the bitterness. Maybe he shouldn't drink anymore. He pours himself a glass of water and steps into the shower, washing away the mishaps of last night. Sometimes he feels foreign looking at his body since he’s grown so much so quickly. He finally has the body he’s always wanted. Robin has even lost some of his fangirls in favor of Beast Boy -- to Starfire’s relief. The attention is hard to handle, and it sometimes goes to his head, but Raven makes sure to knock him down a notch whenever he’s feeling particularly vain.

Raven...

He looks down at her shower essentials, all neatly packed in the corner of the shower. He pops open the cap of her shampoo. The scent is fresh like the ozone after a rain. A component in Raven’s unique, intoxicating smell. He has memorized that scent since he first met her, all those years ago. He remembers how her smell left him spellbound even then. Nothing compares. His blood rushes south in arousal, but he ignores it this morning. It would make him even hornier than normal – which, by the way, is a fucking hassle to fight off when you have hundreds of animals with strong mating instincts warring inside your body -- and he needs to hurry and make things right with Raven. He rinses off with ice cold water, dries off, and gets dressed.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs 'n' bakey, BB," Cy bellows cheerfully as he enters the common room which is far too bright for his taste.

Beast Boy grunts in return. He fishes out an old pair of Ray-Bans in between the couch cushions and dons them.

"Bacon wrapped sausage, anyone?" Cyborg asks, winking at Beast Boy on his way to the fridge.

Beast boy flips him off. Cyborg takes off his apron and puts his hand on his hip. "Looks like you had a good night...that I wasn't invited to!"

"Bro, you know I go out to Amnesia every Saturday night.” He digs around in the disorganized freezer for his veggie burgers.

"Thought that was clubbing time for you and Raven," Cyborg winks in his direction. "Don't wanna be third wheelin' it all night."

Beast Boy puts eight veggie burgers in the microwave and looks at Cyborg over his sunglasses. "It's Raven we’re talking about, here. She doesn't dance. Or drink. Or anything really. She just comes…to make sure I'm okay."

"I don't know BB, you guys have been getting tight, and you guys have both changed. I wouldn't be surprised if she was ready to actually party once in a while."

 _Maybe if Prince Charming asked her to_ , Beast Boy thinks to himself. Instead he shrugs, "Maybe if the whole team comes next time. Peer pressure and all." He gives a weak smile to Cyborg despite his still-pounding headache.

The microwave dings, and Beast Boy takes out his veggie burgers. Cyborg sneers when he catches a whiff, but Beast Boy isn't in the mood to banter. Not today. He gets some Tylenol from the cabinet and pops a few, assuming Raven won't be in the mood to alleviate his headache. He wouldn't deserve it anyway.

He makes his way to the roof. Raven isn't there.

He scarfs down the burgers, and drops them off in the overflowing, moldy sink in the common room -- some things never change. He makes his way back up to Raven's room. Just before he knocks, he hears a laugh.

A laugh. From Raven.

She's talking softly and sounds...happy. Beast Boy is somewhat worried. Since when does Raven laugh like that? So easily? Then he remembers...she's probably on the phone with That Douchebag. Indignant anger and possessiveness rises from the pit of his stomach. Why is he not good enough? They're, like, best friends. He's always there for her. He has picked her up so many times and has even saved her life, and now this tatted up nobody --

The door whooshes open in front of him.

"Stop angsting." Raven drones up at him, as if she wasn't just laughing on the phone with some dude. “I could feel you from inside my room.”

Just then, Beast Boy doesn't know if he wants to apologize. He’s sorry for yelling at her last night, but he's still upset. And for the first time in a long time her rudeness peeves him. He compromises with his conflicting sides. "Just wanted to say I was sorry about last night. You're right, you've never tried to stop me from dating anyone." He pauses. His voice tightens, "And I'm sorry I overreacted last night youknowhowIgetwhenIdrinksometimes." He turns on his heel, but doesn't get a foot away before:

"I’m," she pauses, "Also sorry. We've been getting close and boundaries haven't been set...Sorry if I've ever made you feel like you couldn't date anyone. And I won't look after you so much. You're a grown...man."

That wasn't what Beast Boy was going for at all _. Fuck_. His heart plummets, but he puts on a grin. "Sounds good, Rae. 'Bout time I started dating some ladies since, according to _Us Weekly_ I'm Jump City's number one bachelor." He shoots a cheeky grin and wink at an unamused Raven.

"Also, I'll be going to Amnesia next Saturday. Guess I'll give dancing a shot." A small smile.

Another shot to the heart. "Need some dancing lessons?" He grins and turns into a small, green monkey. He does the monkey dance and leaps onto Raven's shoulder.

"I don't think I need to learn how to rub my ass on someone's junk," she smirks. "I'm going to need to meditate a lot this week to make sure I'm under control this weekend. Just in case I get too inebriated."

Beast Boy morphs back into his original green form. His eyebrows shoot up in shock. "Who are you?! Dancing, now drinking? Club won't be able to handle --"

"Goodbye, Gar," Raven's mouth quirks up as she shuts the door.

 _Why the hell does she do this shit to me,_ Beast Boy runs a hand through his shock of forest green hair. _Eats me up and spits me out only to call me "Gar" and smile at me._ He shakes his head. He's full of all kinds of feelings. He's upset that That Douchebag was the one to get her to try clubbing and having fun instead of him. Although, to be fair, she wouldn't have even been open to it if it hadn't been for him. No, he's excited and happy for her that she will have fun and let go this weekend. She deserves it more than anyone he knows. And isn't that what true love is? Being happy as long as the person you love is happy...even if it's not because of you? As he walks to the training room, he idly wonders if there's something wrong with him. No other guys seem to have so many feelings. And he's always drowning in his. Especially self-loathing -- a personal favorite.

He stretches and does calisthenics before putting boxing gloves on and going at the punching bag with relish. He imagines that That Fucking Douchebag and how he wants to pulverize his face. _Pow pow pow._ He's building up a sweat. He imagines Raven laughing and drinking with him and Raven grinding -- _pow_ \-- on That Asshole’s -- _pow!_ \-- _cock_ \-- _POW!_ Sweat trickles down his temples and stings his eyes. He's used to it, having spent the better part of two years building up his physique by attacking the punching bag like it was Slade -- the team's number one enemy -- or Aqualad -- the object of Raven's casual affection for quite some time. And what did Aqualad have that Beast Boy didn't? They were the same height now, similar physique...it must be the green skin. _Fucking green skin._ Beast Boy rears back and hits the punching bag with all his might. It falls to the ground with a loud crash.

Beast Boy bends over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. He turns into a bird and flies to the rooftop of the highest building in town to meditate.


	3. Chapter 3

Usually Raven hates wearing normal, civilian clothing, but she wants to blend in somewhat just this once. Her first date. Minus the times her and Beast Boy have gone out to get dinner or a movie. Date-like activities that didn't count. She peers into her small collection of normal clothing in her closet. She picks out a plain, black, curve-hugging v-neck tee shirt, a dark blue cardigan, dark skinny jeans, and black, over-the-knee boots. She puts on some mascara and large sunglasses that obscures her face. The less grey she shows, the more inconspicuous.

It's not that she hates people. She's glad that people like and appreciate what she does around Jump City, but she never feels like she deserves the praise. She's a fucking demon (okay, _half-demon_ ) and she brought on the apocalypse in which she killed everyone by bringing her father Trigon the Terrible also known as Lucifer, Satan _, the goddamn Devil_ , to Earth. Not that anyone knows that, except for her teammates. And she _did_ beat him. But still… Damn, Beast Boy was starting to beat the self-loathing out of her. She shakes her head in annoyance and fondness that he’s influenced her so much. Raven sits on her bed, playing with her silk indigo sheets as it was not yet time to meet Xander for dinner.

Rachel Roth is not stupid by any means. Although, according to the purple hooded Raven emoticlone -- AKA Love – she’s a complete fool. When Wisdom caught wind of the profound, earth-shattering love Raven felt for Beast Boy, she pushed it down. Repressed, repressed, repressed. Raven barely even feels the romantic love she once felt for Beast Boy. Just the brotherly love she has for the rest of her teammates. But sometimes it's hard for her to suppress the lust she's had for Beast Boy since he's gone through his growth spurt. It's not just his sculpted physique, but his once goofy looking face now resembles a male model's. His facial bone structure is fine -- high cheekbones, sharp jawline -- masculine but with large, green orbs for eyes and plush lips. And Raven can't even think about his fangs without --

"Azar..." Raven curses. She knows her and Beast Boy can never be together, so she should just stop fantasizing all together. Secondly, she feels kind of guilty lusting over her friend before she goes on a date with Xander. Kind of.

They meet at a hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant -- just the kind of place that has the best food and is low profile. As Raven surveys the menu, she's glad they went to an Indian restaurant because there are so many vegetarian options. Not that she’s a vegetarian. But being around Beast Boy so much, she’s slowly stopped eating meat. She’s never been a big fan, and Beast Boy's rants about "meat is murder" must have rubbed off on her. Maybe she’ll save some of the food for him because he loves Indian food. She ends up getting pea and potato samosas and the vegetarian korma. She cringes at Xander's lamb curry dish, remembering a few times when Beast Boy morphed into a sheep.

"Problem with the food?" Xander asks.

Raven shakes her head, no.

They talk about their favorite authors and poets. They both admire Edgar Allen Poe’s work. He is double majoring in philosophy and folklore at Jump City University which fascinates Raven. Xander is kind, intensely intelligent, and interesting. Much of the conversation was about his 16 tattoos. The beautiful designs wrap around his arms, and she wants to see what the rest of his tattoos look like elsewhere. But she clams up when he asks about her family and when he asks why she doesn't get tattoos if she likes them. _Uhm, I don't know, maybe because I was born with many birthmarks that look like tattoos, but glow red because my dad's the Devil_. She wonders if he would tell her they look beautiful, like Beast Boy said they did. She doesn't plan on ever telling him about her dad. Not like her and Xander are ever going to be in a serious relationship. Raven doesn't do serious relationships. Too dangerous.

As the hours go by, Raven finds her attention span drifting. Although she really likes Xander, he’s trying way too hard to impress her. She misses Beast Boy's quick wit and humor. How Beast Boy is always true to himself even if it drives her up the wall. By the time they're completely done with dinner, Raven fights to stay awake.

"Would you like to come over to my place and maybe listen to some music, watch a documentary, perhaps?" he asks.

"No thanks, I'm extremely tired. We fought Slade last night which is always the worst. I need to recover. Rain check?"

Disappointment flashes across his face, but he pastes on a smile. "Sure,” he clears his throat, “Hey, can I ask you a question? Is there something going on between you and Beast Boy?"

Raven’s too stunned to speak. She feels guilty as though he caught her thinking about Beast Boy. Although she shouldn’t have even hesitated. There wasn't anything going on between her and Beast Boy, right? _Right?_ "No there isn't," she says after a pause.

"Well, I was just wondering because he seemed pretty possessive that one night..." he drifted off.

"I'm sorry, he just gets that way around his team members when he's drunk. Very protective. It has to do with the animal side --"

"Well, even while drunk, he is responsible for his actions, and I didn't appreciate him acting like a feral animal just because I gave my number to you." Xander says, hotly.

Calling Beast Boy a feral animal is enough to get a rise out of Raven. If he didn't like Beast Boy for not being able to control his actions in certain situations, then he probably won't like me, she thought. What if I lose control while I'm drunk and Xander will never want to see me again? Another voice inside her head consoles her. _He has some similarities to you, but it won't be a big deal if you lose him,_ Love whispers. She knows it’s the truth. She knows why. Tall, dark, handsome, and intelligent Xander was just another way to distract herself from who she truly loves.

Gar.


End file.
